Viscount Astorasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many parking permits are in issue to (a) the Royal Fine Art Commission; (b) the Museums and Galleries Commission; and (c) the Commonwealth Secretariat; and whether they will give separate figures showing which are necessary because of (i) unsocial hours, (ii) disability or (iii) because the car is essential for official business for each organisation.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of National Heritage (Lord Inglewood)Responsibility for the subject of this Question has been delegated to the Royal Parks Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. David Welch. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter to the Viscount Astor from the Chief Executive of the Royal Parks Agency, Mr. David Welch, dated 25th June 1996.
I have been asked by Lord Inglewood to reply to your Parliamentary Question about numbers of permits issued for parking on the Mall.
The Royal Fine Art Commission, Museums and Galleries Commission and the Commonwealth Secretariat have recently been asked to reassess their requirement for parking permits. The Museums and Galleries Commission have advised that they would reduce their requirement from 14 to 4. The Royal Fine Art Commission have 19 and are still considering their needs. The Commonwealth Secretariat had agreed to reduce their number of permits from 180 to 70 but have been asked to reassess their requirement with a view to reducing it further.
Each organisation is responsible for its own allocation of permits. I regret that I am, therefore, unable to provide any separate figures showing how many are necessary for each of the eligibility criteria.